Conference Agenda

Introduction: The ILO’s labour standards affirm workers' rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining and social dialogue. However, ensuring meaningful participation, especially for workers in the informal economy who fall outside traditional labour laws, remains a challenge. Even when inclusive dialogue spaces exist, translating discussions into concrete policy changes is difficult. Despite these barriers, organisations of workers in the informal economy continue to push for social dialogue to drive policy reforms. Previous studies, such as those by Schmidt et al. (2023) and Alfers & Moussié (2022), document such efforts. This paper presents initial findings from a study in Southeast Asia - an under-research region in this respect, which builds on existing research by exploring the connection between social dialogue and the extension of social protection to workers in the informal economy.

Research Questions: What are the challenges encountered by workers in the informal economy in accessing existing institutionalised social dialogue spaces in Southeast Asia? What strategic and policy lessons can we learn from the ways in which workers in the informal economy are engaging in social dialogue for social protection - through both formal and informal mechanisms - across the region?

How does gender shape inclusion and participation in social dialogue and what implications does this have for the above?

Methodology: This study was built off a structured national-level survey conducted with the support of ASEAN’s Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM), to which five of the ten member states responded, and four exploratory, qualitative case studies conducted in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and at the regional level of ASEAN. To guide analysis it draws on a hybrid framework including ILO norms and standards, the ILO framework for inclusive and effective social dialogue, and insights from the power resources framework.

Findings and contribution to literature: The study reveals that social dialogue in Southeast Asia varies by country and official mechanisms generally fail to meet ILO’s inclusivity standards, though some trade unions have successfully engaged workers in the informal economy. Despite these challenges, organisations of workers strategically harness their power to advocate for more inclusive social dialogue and policy change. Case studies show that sectors with high female participation, such as domestic and home-based work, can leverage their collective strength to push for gender-responsive social protection. These findings offer insights into effective strategies for building worker power and advancing policy changes in the informal economy.

Informal employment remains a persistent structural challenge in Latin America, affecting nearly half of the workforce and limiting access to labour rights and social protection. This vulnerability became particularly evident during the COVID-19 crisis, when informal workers faced severe economic shocks with little institutional support. In response, several Latin American countries have implemented policies to extend social protection to informal workers and facilitate transitions to formality.

This paper examines: (1) What policy mechanisms have been used in Latin America to extend social protection to informal workers? (2) To what extent have these policies improved workers' security and facilitated formalisation? (3) What challenges remain in designing inclusive and sustainable social protection systems?

The study employs a comparative policy analysis of selected Latin American experiences, drawing on secondary data, institutional reports, and microdata from household and employment surveys. We analyse (1) Tax and contribution integration schemes. For instance, Argentina’s Monotributo and Brazil’s SIMPLES Nacional have aimed at integrating small entrepreneurs and self-employed workers into tax and social security systems, lowering entry barriers to formalization, (2) Emergency income support and social protection expansion: During the COVID-19 crisis, countries such as Colombia and Peru implemented direct cash transfers (Ingreso Solidario and Bono Universal, respectively), covering informal workers excluded from traditional social security schemes. Mexico expanded access to health insurance for informal workers through IMSS Bienestar, and Chile’s Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia provided temporary financial relief while expanding the reach of social assistance programs, (3) Hybrid approaches combining contributory and non-contributory schemes: Uruguay’s social security reform strengthened both universal benefits and contributory incentives, achieving one of the highest coverage rates in the region. Costa Rica has experimented with differentiated social security contributions to gradually incorporate informal workers into the system.

This study provides a systematic analysis of policy innovations in Latin America, highlighting their impact on social protection expansion and transitions to formal employment. The cases analysed demonstrate that well-designed policies can improve protection for informal workers and encourage transitions to formality, though challenges remain. Tax and contribution integration schemes have expanded coverage but struggle with retention and contribution adequacy. Emergency income support measures provided critical relief during the pandemic but raised concerns about long-term sustainability. Hybrid approaches, as seen in Uruguay and Costa Rica, suggest promising avenues for balancing coverage expansion with financial sustainability. The paper concludes with policy lessons and recommendations for broader reforms in the region.

Introduction

Self-employment in the European Union encompasses a wide range of individuals, from highly skilled professionals and independent entrepreneurs to precarious workers with minimal autonomy. While self-employment offers flexibility, many self-employed individuals face significant economic vulnerabilities, including income instability and restricted access to social protection. Despite these challenges, they are often excluded from labour rights, except in cases where a "third category" of workers has been recognized at the national level. Additionally, the issue of bogus self-employment—where individuals are falsely classified as self-employed while working under conditions akin to regular employment—further complicates this landscape.

Research Question(s)

This study aims to address the following key questions:

• How do different EU Member States approach social security for vulnerable self-employed workers?

• To what extent do existing European policies support social inclusion for these workers?

• What are the specific challenges faced by platform workers in accessing social security?

• How can the EU framework be improved to better protect self-employed individuals?

Methodology

This research employs a comparative legal and policy analysis, focusing on EU-level initiatives and national policies in Germany, Italy, and Denmark. Primary sources include EU regulations, directives, and recommendations, as well as national legislation and policy reports. Secondary sources include academic literature and empirical studies on social security systems.

Contribution to Literature

This study contributes to the growing body of research on social security and labour rights by specifically focusing on vulnerable self-employed workers. By comparing different national approaches and evaluating EU-level responses, this study highlights the gaps in existing frameworks and suggests pathways for enhancing social inclusion.

Findings

The analysis reveals significant disparities in how EU Member States protect self-employed. Although Denmark provides a relatively comprehensive social security system for self-employed, it also presents, together with Germany and Italy, significant limitations, particularly in terms of accessibility. Additionally, the EU’s soft law instruments, such as the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2019 Recommendation on Access to Social Protection, offer guidance but lack enforcement mechanisms. The study also finds that platform workers face further barriers due to the non-traditional nature of their employment, necessitating innovative policy solutions.

Ultimately, this study argues that social inclusion, as articulated in the EU’s social rights framework, should guide the reform of social security systems for vulnerable self-employed. Policy proposals are explored to enhance their protection across Europe.

Climate change and frequent extreme weather events increasingly endanger the workforce, with forestry workers being no exception, particularly in developing regions. Many are employed in the informal economy, where access to social protection is more precarious than in the formal sector. Despite some progress, several forestry workers remain at high risk of accidents, injuries, and health issues. As a fundamental pillar of decent work, access to social security is particularly relevant for forestry workers, which can lead to multiple benefits, such as alleviating poverty and reducing inequalities. Effective policy formulation requires a comprehensive understanding of the current status of social security coverage at the sectoral level and its relationship to legal instruments for the governance of work. However, the existing literature on social security in the forestry sector remains limited, partly due to the difficulty of measuring social security coverage at the disaggregate level, especially when the sector is characterised by a high degree of informality. To fill this gap, this study examines the state of social security contributions among people employed in forestry, focusing on low to upper-middle-income countries of the Global South. It further examines whether correlations exist between the social security contribution of forestry workers and ratifying International Labour Standards, notably the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102). Employment share with social security contribution in total forestry employment, derived from the harmonised microdata collection of the International Labour Organization, is used as a proxy indicator. Results reveal that less than a quarter of forestry workers were affiliated with at least one social security scheme. Low-income economies have the lowest average share of employees, with social security contributions at 5% of forestry employment. Middle and upper-middle-income countries, in comparison, show a larger share, with approximately 17 and 20% of forestry employment, respectively. A seemingly unrelated cross-country regression analysis reveals that the proportion of forestry workers covered by at least one social security scheme is significantly associated with ratifying Convention No. 102. Findings also show that disparity in social security coverage is explicitly related to the widespread informality in this sector. The lower proportion of employment with social security contributions underscores the need for sustained efforts to ensure the minimum social security standards. Although ratification of Convention No. 102 may enable an extension of social security through national legislation, its effectiveness depends to a large extent on sound implementation with the support of national labour market institutions.

Activation policies aim to increase the amount of paid work that people do, and this can involve compromises between providing social protection and introducing requirements for people to engage in paid employment or skill development (Immervoll and Knotz, 2018). Arguing that there is a need to closely examine the nature of these compromises to understand how far activation policies may be normalising more precarious forms of employment and contributing to the emergence of protective gaps for workers, this paper turns the focus on the work search and availability requirements that are embedded in conditional activation policies. The paper adopts a novel ‘time demands’ approach to examine how far work-related requirements might be compatible with people’s wider obligations, acknowledging the interdependencies between paid work and processes of social reproduction. To do this, the paper revisits and extends a conceptual framework for describing the control that people might have over different types of time, or their ‘discretionary time’ (Burchardt, 2008; Goodin et al., 2008). It draws on national time-use survey data relating to adults in working-age households in the UK (the UK Time Use Survey, n=3,884) alongside analysis of the requirements that are embedded in the design of Universal Credit, the main means-tested working-age benefit in the UK.

First, the paper simulates how the time demands associated with activation requirements vary under different working conditions. It shows that an expectation for ‘full time minimum wage work’, translates into different time demands depending on the pay and working hour arrangements of different jobs. Second, it estimates a set of wider ‘minimum time obligations’ based on national time-use data for the UK. Here the paper revisits previous work examining inequalities in discretionary time to define a set of ‘minimum time obligations’ relating to basic social reproduction processes. An illustrative specification of these obligations is put forward, based on trends in average time-use across core activities. Comparing the two sets of time demands, the paper demonstrates the potential infeasibility of the ‘default’ time demands embedded in activation policies when weighing ‘minimum time’ for social reproduction, particularly for those with childcare responsibilities and people entering low-paid, and more fragmented forms of paid work. The paper argues that there is a need for new approaches and recognition of the ways that activation requirements may conflict with wider policy goals, including ambitions to promote decent work and support working parents.